By Mavis Paintsil, Accra
If journalists want to remain free, they must first learn to discipline themselves.
That was the blunt warning delivered in Accra on Monday by the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George.
Speaking to journalists, editors and media owners, the Minister said Government has no interest in gagging the press but a press that refuses to correct itself leaves the door open for state interference.
“You cannot demand freedom and reject responsibility in the same breath,” he said.
A forum about fear
The meeting was called by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).
Its theme was simple but urgent: How do we stop people from attacking journalists and getting away with it?
For hours, speakers took turns to describe a profession under pressure, reporters beaten at political events, threatened on phone, dragged to police stations, and in some cases, killed for doing their work.
Mr George said that era must end.
He insisted that every assault on a journalist whether by a party foot-soldier, a police officer, or a powerful businessman must be investigated quickly, prosecuted fairly, and punished.
“No political colour, no uniform, no big name should be enough to protect an attacker,” he told the gathering.
A safety manual for every newsroom
The centrepiece of the day was a new document, MFWA’s Model Safety of Journalists Policy.
It is meant to be a practical handbook for editors and owners: how to assess risk before sending a reporter out, who to call in an emergency, how to secure phones and laptops, and how to give legal and counselling support after an attack.
Mr George backed it fully.
He told media owners that buying a camera for a journalist is not enough. You must also protect the person holding the camera.
Ghana: Better than neighbours, but not good enough
MFWA’s Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, admitted that Ghana still stands out in West Africa as one of the safer places to practise journalism.
But he quickly added: “Safer does not mean safe.”
He said too many attacks are still left unresolved, and too many journalists still work in fear.
Hunger is also a threat
Then came a twist in the debate.
Prof. Amin Alhassan, Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, said journalists are not only threatened by fists and guns, they are also threatened by poverty.
Many, he said, work without SSNIT, without contracts, without insurance. A hungry journalist, he argued, is an easy target for bribery, intimidation and manipulation.
His solution was radical: The National Communications Authority should refuse to renew the licence of any station that does not pay SSNIT for its workers.
“Protect the pocket, and you protect the pen,” he said.
Veteran journalist agrees
Former Ghana Journalists Association President, Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, threw her weight behind the new safety policy.
She said newsrooms should not wait for another journalist to be attacked before they start taking safety seriously.
Safety, she said, must become a daily habit not a press statement after tragedy.
As the forum closed, one question hung in the air: Will Monday’s promises survive Tuesday’s politics?
For Ghana’s journalists, the answer will not come from speeches in Accra. It will come the next time one of them is attacked and the country watches to see what happens next.
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